ESPN's Exclusive Window For Pac-10 Title Game Ends With No Deal

ESPN's exclusive negotiating window for the Pac-10's '11 football championship game closed last week without a deal. Conference Commissioner Larry Scott confirmed in an e-mail Friday that the Pac-10 continues to talk to ESPN, but those talks are no longer exclusive and other networks could come into play. "We made a bid that we feel reflects the value of the property," ESPN said in an e-mailed statement. "We look forward to continued dialogue with our partners at the Pac-10." The conference will continue to seek a one-year deal for the game in '11, but there is also the possibility that the game could be rolled into the conference's next media contract. Scott said that he could not handicap the two scenarios, but he expects movement in the negotiations by the end of the year. The Pac-10 and ESPN are believed to be far apart in determining the game's value. The conference is looking to get paid close to what the Big Ten is getting for its championship game, which went to Fox for more than $20M annually for six years. The Pac-10 is not expected to get that much because it is selling a single game and the game does not come with marketing rights. Pac-10 Properties, the marketing arm run by Fox, owns the marketing and entitlement rights to the '11 game.